Sealing member for piston rings



Jan. 9, 1951 J WALKER 2,537,721

SEALING MEMBER FOR PISTON RINGS Filed June 8, 1948 11 INVENTOR. I f Jame 9' Wzzzkez".

Patented Jan. 9, 1951 James Walker, Brooklyn, L; Jessie Walker administrator of said J ames-Walker, deceased Application- June 8,

My invention is an devices for the rings carried by movable pistons, for producing a closer fit between the piston and the cylinder within which it travels, and

particularly a sealing device for the piston rings of internal combustion engines.

An important object of the invention is to provide asealing member that will 'eifectual-ly prevent the rings from rotating on the pistons,

' particularly in two cycle engines or other types of engines or cylinders having'open ports past which the piston must travel; but said member 7 is adaptable to any type of piston on any type engine fitted-with rings in one piece. It' is made of suitable metal having as nearly as possible the same coefficient of expansion as the piston on which it is to be installed. I

Another object is to provide a sealing member of such design that it fully closes the space between the ends of the rings from Within; that ,is on'the inside face of the ring adjacent the bottom of the groove containing it; and further completely stops up the space between the ends of the rings and usually opening through the outer-curved faces of same.

The joint between the member and the ring is therefore most effective in preventing blow-by, and prolongs the useful life of the piston-rings, which are left free to expand while the member remains in operative position. The entrance and lodgment of carbon under the rings and the expansion of the rings and greater friction and wear are avoided entirely.

The sealing member herein set forth is best suited to pistons with two grooves or any multipe thereof and having rings in one piece fitted into individual grooves on the pistons, but said member may also be shaped for one ring in its groove at any predetermined position.

Piston rings of standard size are used, preferably with straight or square jo nts at the ends. The clearance at the ends is increased approximately the width of the ring, with the usual addition to allow for expansion when installed.

A further object is to provide a sealing member subjected to force exerted from the inner side thereof and of the ring; said force beng about equal to the pressure of the ring against the inside of the surface of the cylinder. This force serves the double purpose of creating friction upon the ring and keeping the ring in firm contact with the cy.inder wall at the same time. Hence the action of the sealing member is most efficient.

The invention is fully described in the ensuing improvement in' sealing s rialNo;-31-,7 mam. (chaos-47.),"

= description, and the novel features are pointed f out-inthe claim. But the construction illustrated presents only the preferred embodiment of my I invention and numerous changes in details can be made without departure from the. essential I design thereof;

Figure lis a side elevation, partly in. section, of thepiston of an internal combustion engine,

bearing rings and a seal according to my invention.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of part of the piston of Figure" 1 with the seal and ringsremoved.

Figure 3 is a vertical section on the line 3-3 I the ends of the piston rings; and

of Figure1.

Figure 4 is a section on the line 44 of Figure 1. Figure 6 is a perspective view of the seal for Figure 7 is'a sectional view similar to Figure 4 presenting amodifieation.

connects the p'ston to the crankshaft;

the piston constitutes a ribt between the rings.

At 5' is a transverse bore in thepiston for a pin that unites it to the piston rod, not shown, that The piston. is illustrated as a piston for a two-cycle engine, with a projection 5' at the top to deflect the incoming charge from the inlet port in the side of the cylinder containing the piston towards the inner end of the cylinder; but the invention can also be used with rings for the pistons of four cycle engines, if desired.

The rings 3 are seated in the grooves 4, with the opposed separated ends of the rings in close proximity. The extremities of the rings are preferably square, but may be bevelled or have other forms and arrangements. In my invention the ends of the rings are of such extent that the opposed ends are separated by a slight gap, and this gap is entirely closed by the sealing member, which also causes the rings to fit the bore of the cylinder snugly, maintains the rings in the most effective operative positions. To this end the piston is shaped to have a recess 1, which is somewhat deeper than the grooves 4 and embraces parts of both grooves, crossing the rib 4 between them. The part of the recess which extends into th bottoms of the grooves is illusstrated at 1a in Figure 2, and the portion of the recess that extends across the rib is shown at 7b. The size of the recess, measured circumferentially of the piston is several times as long as the in-, terval between the ends of the rings 3. The sides out from the arms far enough to be about equal I to the thickness or depth of the rings 3 between the curved faces of the rings. a The ends of the arms H) are separated, and between them are the lateral projections l2, protruding from both sides of the bar I l, and flush with the outer face of the latter. The bar 11 serves as a bridge connecting the arms and the ends of the bar and the parts or projections l2 of the sealing member, at the corners where they join the bar I I, offer seats l3, having faces extending both across the ends of the rings and parallel to one flat face thereof; said faces and the side faces of the bar H being substantially perpendicular to the convex faces of the arms I0; and when the member is disposed in the recess 7, the two projections I! register with the adjacent ends of the rib 4. The parts It and I2 are flush with the outer faces of the rings 3. The parts l3 are also joined to each of the arms l0 along part of one edge of the latter.

The outer faces of the arms [0 ar of such curvature that they make contact with the adjacent inner faces of the rings 3 throughout the lengths of the arms Hi. The opposite faces of the arms [0 are concave. The insideof the piston I has a hollow boss 14, containing a coiled spiral spring [5, to press outward. The engagement of the member 9 with the adjacent ends of the rings 3 is thus maintained and the liability of any leakage between the rings and the arms In is eliminated. The parts l2 also present the passage of gas or oil between the opposed ends of the rings. Figure '7 shows a flat curved sprin Hi which may be utilized in place of the spiral spring [5, the spring being laid in the bottom of the recess '1.

The piston i has special oil drain ducts I! between the top of the piston and the bore 5. These ducts are open along their sides within'the 4 bottom of the ring grooves 4, communicating with the grooves through ports 18.

The piston rings can be of the depth shown in the drawings or cut deeper all around the piston, so that they will take the sealing member without requiring a recess or seat I. In that case, the rings are engaged by undulating or corrugated leaf springs which go all the way round the piston from one end of the sealing member to the other. My sealing member can of course be employed with rings for any pistons, whether in internal combustion engines, steam engines or other motors and in pumps as well.

Th purpose of the ducts I1 is to relieve excess oil pressure under the rings, and conduct the oil to the bore 5. The ends of the ducts at the inner end of the piston are of course plugged.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

A sealing member for piston rings comprising a pair of comparatively thin, parallel arms curved in the same direction and having relatively wide convex and concave faces, a transverse bridge connecting the convex faces of said arms, and overlying the full width of said faces, saidbridge having approximately the same thickness as said rings, the member having projections at each side of the bridge between said arms, said projections also being of approximately the sam thickness as said rings, the bridge and projections having intersecting surfaces substantially perpendicular to the convex faces of said arms, to present seats for the ends of said rings, said projections also being joined to each arm along the adjacent edges thereof.

J AMES WALKER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 407,370 Peacock July 23, 1889 743,645 Kelsey Nov. 10, 1903 1,601,237 Carman Sept. 28, 1926 

